Love Hangover
by TerrierLee
Summary: Takes place during the course of Power Rangers Ninja Storm. Follow as Shane realizes and comes to term with the fact that the person he likes... may like someone else. 2/4
1. Prelude to Thunder

Author's Note: So three weeks ago I got into Ninja Storm, watched the full season in four days, was corrupted by fanfiction, and then in the span of a week, read every single Hunter/Cam fic in existance. I spent the last week rereading every fic over again. Then I realized something. I had an idea for a Hunter/Cam fic, and no one has done it before. Well, actually, they did, but with different characters. So it got me thinking. And then THIS was the result. I plan on writing the second chapter, because well, this is taking too long, and I'm going by episodes. I'm actually taking quotes from certain episodes and then some.

So, enjoy, and I hope I can write the second chapter tomorrow.

* * *

As the leader, one would think he noticed things first. But he was a Red, and Reds weren't known for being observant, at least, not most of the time.

But between having their school and fellow students stolen by an evil space ninja, their Sensei turned into a guinea pig, becoming Rangers, learning to work three into one, clones, friendship issues with Dustin, new Rangers who kicked their butts and monsters on a daily basis, Shane was surprised he could even remember everything that happened.

Usually Tori or Cam handled stuff like that.

Cam. Shane didn't think much of Cam at first, he was just Sensei's son, always sitting in front of his computer, speaking in his condescending way at them, but always having the Zords or their Tsunami Cycles ready on time.

Then they saw Cam at the botany place.

Shane knew something fishy was up. Cam never disobeyed Sensei, even if he _was_ Sensei's son. He quickly followed him while Tori and Dustin went to ask questions to that botany guy.

Then Shane saw Cam kicking the Kelzak's butts. He didn't know Cam could fight! Of course, that only got the condescending tone back into Cam's voice. So he grew up at a ninja school, that doesn't automatically make someone a ninja master.

But later that day, when he, Tori and Dustin were out running for staying up late, and saw Cam coming up behind them, a warm feeling settled in his stomach. Cam could get in trouble too. Who would have thought?

--

They were stuck on an island with crazy Thunder brothers, no way of communicating with Cam or Sensei, and to make matters worse, even after the monster was dead, the freaking island was sinking, and they couldn't go anyway.

So one could imagine the relief that flood into Shane's body when his morpher beeped. He was already on his feet, aware of the others closing in around him, trying to hear the voice over the morpher.

"Is that you, Cam?"

A sarcastic reply answered back, causing Shane and Dustin to share a small laugh, "No, it's the phone company. I'm calling to find if you're happy with your long distance service." Shane could almost here the silent, _Of course it's Cam, you idiot. Who else calls on your morphers?_ But he kept that to himself.

Hunter's voice took him back to the present, "Is he always this uh…" Shane could hear the smirk, "funny?"

Shane tossed a look over to his fellow red, still smiling from hearing Cam's voice, "Not always." He looked back to his morpher, hoping to hear Cam's voice again, "We're great, Cam. Thanks for asking."

But the next voice to be heard over his morpher was not Cam, but Sensei, asking if the Thunder Rangers were with them. No point in lying, they were, and Shane informed Sensei that they were. Sensei continued, talking about having to talk to them, but Shane barely registered this information as Cam's shivering voice quickly followed his father.

Oh yes, the sinking island. Shane forgot about that for a moment.

Dustin brought up the Gliders, but Cam shot down the idea, something about the air pressure, but Shane wasn't paying attention to the words coming out of his morpher, only Cam's voice. How cold was it over at Blue Bay Harbor? Sure it was a little chilly on the island they were on…

Blake mentioned the zords, which seemed to be a good idea, according to Sensei, and Cam could be heard typing away at his computer. Good ol' Cam. Shane confirmed they would be waiting, and the link on his morpher was cut.

Shane looked around at the others, nodding as they began their trek, when Hunter's voice caused everyone to stop. Shane shrugged at the thanks Hunter gave them. That's what friends do, Shane told him, and they started walking.

Of course, then that supposed dead monster had to attack again.

Shane gripped his left arm, calling for Cam about those zords, and sure enough, they were coming.

--

With nothing better to do, Kelly yelled at him for getting in the way of her new employees, Shane retreated to Ninja Ops, where he found Tori next to Cam, checking something on the computer. Shane plopped his skateboard on the floor, hopped onto it, and proceeded to try and land some tricks before getting yelled at.

It didn't take long.

"I'm confused; does it now say 'Skate Park' outside the secret entrance?" Cam and Tori stopped what they were doing, turning around to look at Shane, who simply shrugged, said sorry, though by the sound of it, he didn't really mean it, and rolled on over to the computer terminal.

Cam went back to his theory, voicing it out loud for Tori. "Someone knew what they were doing when they built these Thunder Zords. The technology is_amazing_."

"Yeah," Tori sighed, as Sensei made his way next to the computer scene and Shane leaned down on the other side of Cam, trying to see what the big deal was, "Now all we need is someone to drive them." Shane turned his head a bit, trying to make it look like he was looking at Sensei, but was clearly looking at Cam.

"Blake and Hunter will follow their destiny. Whatever that may be." Sensei stopped right in front of the computer screen, looking at it with no clue what the screen was saying. It appeared that Tori and Shane had no idea what to make of the codes on the screen meant either.

"That's weird," Cam spoke up suddenly, random places on the Thunder Zords lighting up.

"What?" Shane asked, feeling compelled to egg the computer geek on, "Finally find something you can't figure out?"

Cam seemed to fall for it. "No. I've scanned the Thunder Zords for damage, and I keep coming up with this nonfunctional retrofit."

Shane just blinked as Tori summed up his question perfectly, "Could you repeat that with fewer syllables?"

Cam tossed a look over at Tori, not aware that Shane did the same, and gave the simple version of his statement. "Well one piece doesn't have any purpose. But it _is_ integral into the overall design. I'd just love to know what the deal is with it!"

Shane chuckled a bit under his breath, just shaking his head, "Wouldn't that count as something you can't figure out?"

Tori tried to refrain from laughing, while Cam just slowly turned his head to give Shane a deadpan look. Shane simply returned the look with a smile.

Oh yeah, Shane won this round.

--

Go figure it would take defeating Choobo to get the Thunder Rangers to join the Wind Rangers. Of course, everyone was excited when Hunter and Blake said they were in, the fact that they turned down an offer from Factory Blue, the new Zord combination, if Choobo never kidnapped the Bradley Brothers, they probably wouldn't have joined.

Once Hunter confirmed they would stay and help, Tori and Dustin crowded around Blake, who seemed content with the attention, especially from Tori, and Shane just sent a high five Blake's way before turning to Hunter, and nearly faltered when he did.

He looked over just as Cam and Hunter withdrew from their hug, but Hunter's arm was still wrapped around Cam's shoulder as Cam gave Shane a pat on the back and Hunter gave Shane a one-armed hug.

It would be stupid to try and move to the other side of Cam now that Blake had an arm around Shane and vise versa. Shane was stuck where he was, and even from there, he could tell that Cam's right arm was wrapped around Hunter's body. This wouldn't have been a big deal, except Shane's left arm was around Hunter's shoulders, so there was no way he was going to touch Cam without someone noticing. So he gave up thinking about it, forcing himself to listen to Sensei.

After Dustin agreed to the addition to their growing team, Shane just looked at the new two members of their team, claiming they were apart of them now, and willed himself to look at Blake a little longer than he needed to. But when he looked over to Hunter, he cursed as the blond Bradley looked over at Cam instead.

Suddenly, things weren't looking so good.

--

It was stated before. Two Reds on one team was never a good thing. Didn't a past team have two Reds? Look where it got them, Shane thought bitterly. Of course, he doubted that that past team fought over the resident computer geek. If they had one. Wasn't their's a green ranger though? The Winds didn't have a green ranger, nor did the Thunders, but Cam wore green. No, Cam wasn't a Ranger. He was just… Cam.

Shane and Hunter were in a fierce spar, Shane giving everything he had in the fight, Hunter just trying to keep up. A kick at Hunter's chest sent him back, and Shane sniffed, rubbing his nose with his thumb, "You ever heard of cutting your losses?" He asked, knowing full well Hunter had no clue what he was talking about. Hunter's confused look on his face confirmed his thought before Shane started up again, only to be tripped.

Hunter brought an arm down, was deflected by Shane's, but Hunter took hold of Shane's arm and shoulder, twisting him over as he relished in his victory, "What losses?" He prompted, as Shane tried to get out of Hunter's grip. Losing this spar meant giving up Cam, even if Hunter wasn't aware of this fact. He saw his opportunity by grabbing Hunter's ankle and throwing the blond off balance.

Hunter fell a few feet away while Shane rolled to his feet, Hunter doing the same. They started back, running at each other at full force, Shane sending attacks at every angle, thoughts about how he had to win this spar, he just had to, Hunter blocking at every turn.

Shane pushed forward on one attack, before Hunter managed to push Shane's shoulder, reeling the Red Ranger back a few steps. He rubbed his wrist from the sudden pressure it was just given. What was Shane's problem?

He looked up at the Red Ranger, still holding his wrist in his hand, "I thought we were just sparring!"

"Hey," Shane shook his head to the side, "If you can't keep up, we can get my sister over here." _And maybe then I wouldn't have any competition when it comes to Cam. _Shane thought bitterly.

Hunter scoffed, holding his fists up in fighting stance, "Oh you're straight comedy, Shane."

They were about to engage in combat once more when Sensei's voice stopped them. A kick from the guinea pig sent both down to the ground, and Sensei's lecture voice was set. "We've talked about the Wind and Thunder ninjas working together as one. What have we said?"

Shane sighed, cursing himself for letting his emotions get in the way of his sparring. "A competitive spirit is healthy…"

"As long as you don't sacrifice honor and friendship." Shane cursed inwardly. Hunter cut him off.

Anger rushed through Shane's being, "Dude, I was right in the middle of saying that!" Shane got to his feet, followed by Hunter doing the same. They got a hold of each other, fully about to fight again when Sensei told them to do push ups. The two Rangers simply sent glares back and forth, one knowing why, the other just confused but at the same time pissed at some misunderstanding he wasn't aware of, but they settled down onto the sand, both trying to out push up the other.

Really, this was a great way to join two ninja academies.

--

This was getting them nowhere. That kick boxing kangaroo kicked their butts, and all the while they were fighting each other.

A bench came into view and Shane tried to turn so he could get a look at Hunter, slowing down and telling Hunter to 'Dude, hold on.' Both plopped down on the bench, breathing heavily, but satisfied by the run. Shane tossed a hand over to Hunter, nodding as he gasped out, "Good run."

Hunter looked over in disbelief, "Wait, did you just give me props?"

Shane laughed at Hunter's reaction, holding up his hands as he tried to straighten things out, "Hey, don't get all weird on me. I'm just saying…" He began, only to be cut off by Hunter.

"That maybe Sensei has a point?"

Shane shrugged, leaning back on the bench, "The guy's pretty right on, that's why he's the teacher?"

Hunter looked out to the water, seemingly in thought, "Blake and I are used to being on our own, no parents, no Sensei, no one to answer to except for each other."

Shane thought about that for a moment, "Hey look, you got us now." He paused then, mind flashing to the green clad technician before he shook his head, "All of us. And we look out for each other. That's the way it's gotta be." He leaned forward a bit, waiting for Hunter to say anything.

Hunter thought about it for a while, before nodding, a smile coming to his face, "I hear ya."

With that, they got up, and continued their run, only to find that crazy kick boxing kangaroo again. And this time, it had an upgrade. But they were able to draw Hunter's power into Shane's sword, and that defeated the monster, until it got big anyway.

There was no point in letting something as pathetic as jealousy get in the way of Hunter and Shane becoming good friends. Besides, it wasn't as if the jealousy followed Shane out into battle. Cam wasn't a ranger, he never will be. It would be safer this way.


	2. Scent of a Samurai

Author's Note: CyberCam is embarrassing. That's all I have to say.

* * *

Never in his life had he ever thought of helping a friend set up cable TV for a guinea pig. Of course, he never thought said guinea pig would be his Sensei. Or even becoming a ranger. But that's life, Shane thought, poking his head under the table that was placed in the middle of Ninja Ops main room. Dustin was crawling in the middle of the table, rubbing a hand across his face, "Ah this is so brutal!" He complained, as Shane checked on how Dustin was doing. 

"I heard that," he held up the cable cords, passing them to Dustin when Sensei's voice made them look over.

"Problem, gentlemen?" Dustin scoffed at the question, taking hold of the cords, as he continued their crawl under the table.

Near the entrance of Ninja Ops, Tori and Blake were in the middle of a mock spar. Blake saying he wouldn't take it easy just because Tori was a girl, and Tori playing along, telling Blake not to let her blonde hair fool him.

Shane plugged the cable cords in, patting Dustin on the shoulder when the Yellow Ranger didn't know Sensei was kidding. The miniature TV came to life, showing Sensei's sci-fi marathon he was talking about. Dustin circled back to the habitat cart, leaning over by the TV, "Isn't this a little low tech? I mean, Cam's got like a thousand channels on that thing," Dustin motioned to the main computer that Cam always works on.

Cam came over by the habitat, positioned himself in the middle of Dustin and Shane, leaning over to check everything out. "How many times do we have to go over this? The satellite surveillance system is not a home theatre."

Shane snuck a peek over at Cam, eyes trailing up and down quickly so no one would notice, but something seemed off. Really off.

He didn't have time to figure out what it was when Tori blocked Blake, causing the Navy Ranger to fall to the floor. His hand was entangled in the cords that Dustin and Shane spent so long going through, and when he yanked his hand back, the jumbled mess of cords followed along with him, the cords pulled from their place in the wall, sparks flying, Sensei's TV shutting off abruptly.

Tori's right hand flew to her mouth, trying to hold back laughter while Blake looked back and forth, knowing he did something wrong.

"Well that worked out well." Cam grumbled, Tori looking guilty while Blake came up from behind Cam, quickly telling Sensei sorry, saying he'll help when Cam hit Blake's outstretched hand, saying he'll take care of it.

Shane took this time to really get a good look at Cam's shirt. And it looked normal. It was green, the only thing Cam seemed to wear. There were crazy designs, and usually Cam wore a simple shirt, like the undershirt he was wearing. Shane's eyes continued to look, and once they got to the bottom half of the shirt did he notice something was off. The bottom half of Cam's over shirt… wasn't green. It was more of a red. Or maybe a darker red…

Crimson.

Something fowl settled in his stomach, as he turned away from the sight. He looked at Dustin, Blake and Tori, suggesting they go to the skate park, under the pretense of practicing for his demo. Tori quickly told Shane she had to drop off Blake first, and that feeling in his stomach grew. He asked if she was coming to his skate demo, and she said of course, she would never miss it.

The feeling didn't get any smaller, though. It seemed like Hunter was stealing everything Shane had, indirectly or not.

--

The pig monster destroyed, the Wind Rangers were able to get out of the alternate dimension. It was Tori who question where Hunter and Blake were, and as if on cue, they flew out of that popcorn bucket, followed by a rain shower of popcorn and… butter?

Shane clasped Blake's hand, and helped him up, shooting a look over at the older Bradley brother, and saw Dustin helping him up. But that wasn't what Shane was looking at.

Hunter was wearing a red shirt, with green in the middle. Even though he was covered in that butter junk, the color green stood out on the red shirt. And was that some more green on the shirt's shoulder?

Shane's mind went back to the previous day, and how Cam was wearing a shirt that had the crimson color on it.

But before he could even make sense of it, the pig monster was back; only bigger. Shane pushed the thought about the two shirts to the back of his mind. They had to defeat the day's monster. He didn't have time to deal with these emotions right now.

Hunter told Shane he and Blake would handle the Kelzaks, and Shane could only agree.

--

It was a normal training session, Sensei thought they were ready to break a brick made of marble. Cool. Easy. Sensei could do it, after all. Even if he_was_ a ninja master… in a guinea pig's body.

Hunter didn't look sure Sensei could even do it, and when Sensei _did_ break the brick, Hunter took this time to give it a try. Blake wasn't sure if it was such a good idea, and voiced his thought to his brother.

"If he can do it... uh..." He cracked a side smile, "I'm gonna give it my best shot!"

Shane chuckled to himself, taking the next brick in the pile and setting it up for Hunter to break. He rubbed a hand over the brick, as if smoothing it out and getting imaginary dust off of it before winking at Hunter, and letting the Crimson Thunder Ranger attempt to break the brick.

When Hunter only managed to hurt his hand, Shane couldn't help the laughter as it came. In fact, he didn't even realize Blake hitting his arm as Shane continued to bask in this glorious moment.

"Looks like rodent: One, Thunder Ranger…" At this he turned to Blake, "Zip!"

Hunter held his hand in his other hand, annoyed at the laughter, and put Shane up to the test, "You think you can do it?"

Shane merely scoffed at this, motioning for Hunter to get up so he could do it. He settled himself in front of the brick, fully aware of their green clad bystander watching everything they were doing.

Shane took a deep breath, and slammed his hand down onto the brick. Pain shot up his arm, making him cry out as he held his hand up.

So much for trying to impress Cam with breaking a brick.

Tori, Dustin, and Blake didn't do as well either, it seemed. So they five gathered around Sensei, who let them wait till some of the pain subsided.

It didn't take very long, only Dustin and Blake were left rubbing their sore hands, before Sensei continued on with his lesson.

"You have come far in your training, but you still have a long way to go."

Shane looked down at the floor, his one chance at probably doing the one thing Hunter couldn't, and he blew it. He kicked himself over the head mentally as Dustin tried to make the whole ordeal less than what it was.

"Yeah, but you're like a full on, like, super ninja master!"

A yell from behind alerted them to turn around, just in time to see Cam's right hand coming in contact with the brick, and breaking it in two. Cam looked up at everyone, his expression calm, while Shane could only blink.

_How?_ Yeah, sure, Shane knew Cam could fight, but to break the very brick that only Sensei could break? He looked over to Dustin, disbelief evident on his face, "_What?_"

Cam blinked, standing up, slightly confused at the reaction he received, "What?"

There was so way, no_ way_ Cam broke that brick! "Alright, how did you do that?" An idea popped into his head then, the only logical trick in the book, "Oh ho! You used some laser beam thing, right?"

Cam just shook his head, letting the others get over what he just did.

A thought shot through Dustin's mind, and he quickly voiced it, "Or... you switched the bricks," nodding, he continued, "Oh I saw that at a stunt show once at a movie or theme park!" Out of the corner of Shane's eyes, he saw Hunter nod in agreement and quickly followed suit.

Until Cam picked up one of the broken brick pieces and tossed it over to Dustin, who managed to catch it, but couldn't hold it for long. Dustin got to his feet, letting the brick piece stay where it was, "Okay, maybe not."

Hunter looked at Cam in disbelief, the thought making Shane smile internally, as Hunter voiced his own thoughts, "It's gotta be a trick?"

Annoyed, Cam finally took pity on the group of rangers, thinking that maybe if he let them in a little they could understand, "You just don't get it, do you?"

Apparently, they didn't. Shane held out a hand, as if for a little help, "Get what?"

"Just because someone isn't a ranger, it doesn't make them completely useless." The expression on Cam's face stopping any source of breathing on Shane's part. Not waiting for anyone to answer this, Cam continued, "I need some air." Turning abruptly and walking out of Ninja Ops, leaving a confused team of Rangers.

Tori seemed to snap out of it first, shoving Shane's arm as she followed Cam's retreating form. Shane simply held out his hands, completely confused as the rest of them, turning to look back at Dustin and the Bradley brothers. Dustin, still looking at the main entrance to Ninja Ops, asked Shane, "Do you think he's mad at us?"

Shane, annoyed now, he didn't feel any better when he saw Hunter's confused face, just gave Dustin a typical answer, "Dude, he's _always_ mad at us!"

Blake took this opportunity to voice his reaction, "What did we say?" Both the Crimson and Red Rangers only shrugged as Sensei's voice forced everyone to look at him.

"I fear there is more to this than mere words, Blake."

As Sensei went through the tale about Cam's mother, how she fell ill early in his childhood and of the promise Sensei made with Cam's mother, Shane thought there was more to this story than Sensei was telling them.

"A promise you made when Cam was a little kid? What? _That's_ why you won't let him become a ranger?" Shane's disbelief was evident.

Sensei held out a hand, as if to call for suggestions, "Does one of you have something you'd like to say?"

Out of the corner of Shane's eyes, he saw Hunter about to answer when Dustin beat him to it, "Ah, I'm sorry, Sensei, but that's kinda weak."

Sensei appeared to smile at the statement, but replied, "I appreciate your honesty, Dustin."

Shane took this time to put in his two cents, before Hunter did, "Sensei, you always told us to make our own decisions, right?"

"Yes," Sensei began, "but as a parent there are greater things to consider. It is far more complicated."

"It seems simple enough to me," Blake thought out loud, "You gotta trust your son." He paused, "Sir."

"Cam's the most together of all of us," Hunter began, shooting glances at everyone, "It seems to me out of all people, he'd make a great ranger."

"Perhaps I have been a little overprotective," Sensei mused as something like anger swelled up in Shane's stomach. When Shane said something, Sensei shot it down, but when Hunter gave a suggestion, Sensei was all ears? How lame is _that_?

--

Lothor's goons should steal their powers more often, Shane thought, as Cam helped the Red Ranger back to Ninja Ops, and began to focus what happened solely on what Shane's test showed.

A piece of footage showing the monster with their powers alerted everyone, and Shane struggled to his feet, but was quickly pushed back by Cam. He was slightly touched by the concern Cam gave him, but they couldn't just stay back while some freak with a building on his head had their powers.

Cam only nodded, gave them an energy boost for some time, and let the rangers go off to fight.

And maybe it was a good idea to go out and get that ball with their energy, even if Cam yelled at him for using too much energy. It was easier said to conserve energy than to actually do it.

Then there was the Zord fight. Whoever gave Cam the ideas for their power spheres were crazy. C'mon, a _scarf?_ Oh well, at least it had Shane's power of Wind symbol on it, he should be grateful for that.

Except the scarf didn't really do much, they still demorphed and were knocked out of their Zords. It looked as if they were screwed. Really screwed.

Now what?

--

Cam was a ranger._ Great_.

That was all Shane needed. Okay sure they needed help when they were powerless, they needed six rangers to help get their powers out of that weird sphere thing, and no wonder Cam was obsessed with the color green.

The group of now six rangers gathered around the sphere, Shane was well aware that while everyone was turned to their right, Cam was turned to his left, facing Hunter, and he was awfully too close for comfort.

But now wasn't time for that. They had to get their powers back.

The force of the sphere opening shocked everyone onto the floor, but as the strength rushed back into Shane's body; he got up and tested everything out, getting in a fighting stance and throwing a few punches. Who knew? Cam might be looking over to check and see if everyone was alright, and saw that Shane was doing fine.

He didn't. Cam could be seen rubbing his bottom as he fell into the middle of the group, and Tori quickly pounced on the newest ranger.

"Just one question though, Cam." She held her hands out, sizing Cam up with her eyes and arms, "What? How did all this happen?"

Hunter was next in line with questions, sizing Cam up with his own eyes, "You're a ranger now?" while Tori overlapped with, "I mean suddenly you're a ranger?" followed closely by the others jumping in, asking Cam a dozen questions while he just looked back and forth between Tori and Hunter before shrugging all the questions aside.

Even through all the excitement, Shane still noticed the lingered gaze that Hunter gave Cam, while the Green Ranger just tried to get away with not answering anyone's questions.

Unfortunately, the rangers didn't know when to quit, and eventually learned what Cam saw while he traveled in the past.

Shane's response was probably the best received. "Dude, let's talk about Uncle Lothor. Man that's _crazy,_ bro."

"Tell me about it." Cam dipped the sentence in sarcasm, "Nice family tree _I_ have."

"Cam," Sensei began, his voice stern, "Lothor is no relation of ours."

Cam turned around at that, his arms open, "Well how could you say that?"

Sensei continued, "By law, once a ninja is banished, they cease to exist. The one I knew as my brother is a mere memory."

"But don't you think I had a right to know?"

Hunter cut in, before anyone could say anything, "Yeah, we all did."

"Perhaps," Sensei barely gave Hunter a second thought, "But what would it have changed? Would you have battled him any differently?" Cam could only nod at this, Sensei was right, after all.

A beep from Cam's computer alerted the group of five separate monsters attacking at five different locations. Sensei split everyone up, telling Cam to stay and monitor any new attacks. Cam didn't seem up to this suggestion, he was a _ranger_ now, but agreed, clicking a few keys on his keyboard.

As Hunter walked away, quickly joined by his brother, Shane took this time to pat Cam on the shoulder, grinning as he offered what he could, "See you out there." That phrase alone brought a smile to Cam's face, and that was enough for Shane, as he quickly ran off to catch up with the others.

Maybe, maybe it was a good thing Cam was a ranger now. Maybe.

--

"_Woah._ That's_ nasty_." Hunter could be seen leaning just in front of Cam, his eyes wide, and complete disbelief on his face. The others joined him, Tori's face soon following Hunter's. "Dude," Hunter backed up a bit as Shane couldn't help but smile at this. Hunter was too scared to get close to Cam. _Nice_. Hunter didn't notice Shane's smile, as he looked back at Cam's face, "_What happened?_"

Cam was pressed against a wall of Ninja Ops, his buttoned up shirt left open, revealing what looked like either boils or bug bites. He was sweating like crazy, looking as though he was trying to scratch his back with no sign that it was working, he twitched to the side a bit before answering, "I got a little close to that overgrown sucker."

A collective 'ew' rang out amongst the other rangers, Hunter now leaning back enough that maybe he wouldn't get infected. Shane tried to get as far behind Hunter as possible. He didn't want to get what Cam had, even if he _did_ like him.

More beeping from the supercomputer alerted everyone's attention away from Cam temporarily, a monster grew, and Shane quickly announced they would get the Zords while Sensei asked the Thunder Rangers to take care of the others. Hunter agreed immediately, before Cam's voice called their attention back to him.

"What about me?" His left hand was scratching his right collarbone, what looked like hairy moles were on his knuckles, long pieces of hair sticking out of them. Tori was the only one to ask Cam about it, as Hunter and the others looked too scared to say anything. Well, Hunter looked scared. Shane was too busy laughing at Hunter's reaction to Cam's… problem.

"Uh Cam?" She leaned in a little close, "What's that?"

Cam quickly looked down at his hand, still scratching that one part, before looking back, "Uh… I have no idea."

Tori and Hunter shrunk back, Shane still trying to hold back his laughter and had to look away, so he looked over at Dustin, who appeared to have no clue what was going on, before Sensei ordered everyone out so he could figure out what was wrong with Cam.

They all agreed, Tori still looking at Cam before finally looking away. Cam's groaning as he scratched at his body could see be heard as they exited Ninja Ops.

--

Okay, so turning into a bug might cause anyone else to not want to be a ranger anymore, but Cam isn't just anyone. Luckily for the rangers, Cam was off doing who knows what, and Tori was the one who came up with the idea. They took a Wind Ninja Academy training uniform, trimmed it with green, and then placed the Samurai symbol on it, and waited for Cam to return to Ninja Ops' main room.

There was a big debate on who was going to give Cam his new uniform, and Hunter was the first to say he should give it to Cam, which lead to Tori arguing that she helped Cam out when the guys were being pig headed and that she should give Cam his new uniform. In the end, Dustin proposed that they would all give Cam his new uniform, as a team. Shane used his Red Ranger status as the one to hold the uniform, and he took a place on Cam's chair as they waited for their Green Ranger.

It didn't take very long.

Cam practically bounced into Ninja Ops' main room, saying something about linking his saber to Ninja Ops so even though he would be out being a Ranger, he could still do his technical duties.

But they barely heard any of that, their grins giving away what they planned. Their grinning affected Cam, who could only smile back, though it was obvious he was confused.

"What? What are you all smiling about?" Hunter and Tori shot each other knowing looks as Dustin and Blake simply moved to the side as Shane turned around in Cam's chair, a green trimmed training uniform in his lap.

Shane couldn't help it, he fell into laughter, standing to his feet with the uniform in his hands as he walked up to Cam.

"_Wow_. Where did that-?" The Green Ranger could barely hold back his reaction, a smile huge on his face as Shane handed the uniform over.

"If you're gonna be a part of the team, you gotta have the gear." Cam took the gift, holding the uniform up against his body and he checked it out, the smile still on his face.

Sensei gave his own congratulations to Cam, saying how no father could be prouder of his son. Cam nodded at this, before the rest of the rangers crowded around Cam, congratulating him as Cam simply gave a 'Thanks, guys!' in return. Shane held onto Cam's shoulders as he circled behind him, giving him a shake now and then.

He was truly happy for Cam. He was like a part of their family now.

And then Hunter had to playfully smack Cam's stomach. Shane barely saw that, only noticed it when Hunter made a playful shout as he did so, and Shane quickly put in his head that Cam was too busy checking out his brand new uniform.

Yeah. Things were okay.

--

The day started with a typical training session. Cam was joining them; he was now allowed to join now that he was a ranger. Go figure, huh? Shane was caught between Tori and Dustin, blocking every attack they dished out. Cam ran past them, running up the side of a nearby wall, and leaped off of it, loosing balance on his way down, and falling flat on his back.

A collective cringe could be heard between the three Winds, as they ran over to help their fellow ranger. Dustin reached for Cam's hand, and Shane did what he could, he reached for Cam's arm and helped him get back onto his feet. Dustin could only say how he was going to take points off for that weak landing, and Cam quickly announced he was going to try it again.

Anyone could see Cam was tired, and Shane proposed they quit for the day, even telling Cam straight up that he looked about to fall over. Cam shot back with a 'No!' and that he was fine, when Shane's morpher beeped.

Sensei voiced crackled over the morpher as he requested Cam's help. Cam only sighed, told his father he would be right there, and Shane crossed his arms while Tori gave a simple, "That doesn't sound good."

Cam gave an exasperated sigh as he told the Winds, "I told him to stay away from the supercomputer. I'll be back as soon as I can." He shrugged before running off, streaking back to Ninja Ops.

Tori looked at the retreating form of the Green Ranger, turning back with a worried look on her face, "I'm worried about Cam. He runs the entire Ninja Ops and now he's a Ranger too."

Shane agreed immediately, "Yeah, he never gets any down time."

Dustin nodded when he realized the two focused on him, "Dude's gonna seriously burn out."

The three looked at one another; they had to help Cam get out more. Doing do much couldn't be good for a person.

--

The idea came when Shane was trying to sleep the night before. They already planned on hitting the beach with the Thunder brothers, and they hadn't thought of inviting Cam, he wasn't a ranger when they came up with the idea, and Shane didn't want to bring up the Green Ranger, when he never seemed to care before.

When he arrived at Ninja Ops with Tori and Dustin, he proposed the idea and Tori thought it was a wonderful suggestion. She was thinking of inviting Cam anyway. They walked into Ninja Ops and spotted Sensei on his habitat cart.

Shane beat everyone to it, "Hey Sensei, is Cam around?"

Tori took over from there, "We're gonna be Blake and Hunter at the beach and we thought he might wanna come with."

Sensei informed the three that he hadn't seen Cam all morning, which was awfully weird. Cam was known for his odd sleeping habits, staying up all night and then waking up earlier than Shane did when he had school.

Dustin came up with the first plausible reason, "Probably crashed out." Shane nodded, it seemed that was the case.

When a 'Hey! What's up!' alerted their attention.

There was Cam. In… baggy cargo pants…? a black shirt, green over shirt… and what that a green beanie on his head? He barely even registered what Cam was saying when Cam began to do some sort of robot dance move as he greeted them.

Tori seemed to snap out of the shock first, trying to process Cam's new dress code, "What… are you _wearing_?" No, she was still in shock.

Cam looked down at his outfit, which Shane was still trying to get over. Cam never wore any shade of black, unless it was his training uniform. In fact, the only colors Cam seemed to wear, before and after a ranger, was simple green and white. And that one shirt with crimson on it. But Shane didn't like to think about that.

Cam didn't seem to get that they were all shocked, looking back at everyone, "Cool, huh? I got tired of those same old rags so I busted out the phat gear!"

Even _Sensei_ looked shocked at this.

This was too great though. Cam never acted like this. It just… wasn't _Cam_. Maybe all that being a ranger and turning into a bug finally got to his head. Shane couldn't hold in his laughter, while Dustin still appeared confused, but asked Cam anyway, "We were just going to the beach and we thought you might wanna… come with us?" The more Dustin looked at Cam, the more he thought the idea was just plain stupid.

But Cam didn't seem to realize this. "Dudes!" He walked up between Shane and Dustin, wrapping an arm around each shoulder, while Tori looked on in disbelief. "I'm so down with that! I can definitely get in chilling at the beach with my peeps!"

Tori's dam broke; she could barely get her question out, "Your _peeps_?" Cam looked over at her, pulling Shane back roughly as he wrapped an arm around Tori's shoulder. The force of the shove made Shane uneasy on his feet, so he missed most of what Cam told Tori, but it was enough on the look on her face that he cracked up.

"Thanks," she seemed to ponder for a moment, "I think."

Cam didn't seem fazed by her confusion, and turned to Sensei, "Gotta bail!" He lifted his right hand in some sort of gesture, "Laters little furry dude!" He turned, not waiting for a reply from Sensei as he told the Rangers to hurry up, totally missed Sensei's shocked expression and the Rangers just shrugging.

--

Shane should have known something was up when Cam said he wanted to try skateboarding. As for as Shane knew, or any of the others, Cam had never left his computer for long than it took him to eat, and he usually ate in front of his computer, and that would mean he shouldn't be able to skateboard, or surf, or even do motocross.

But he did.

And according to the expressions on the other's faces, except Dustin, they thought there was something wrong too.

Then there was the monster attack. Cam just became a ranger, something he wanted to be since the beginning, and suddenly he wanted to give it up? No way. And then the car thing? Shane wondered why the warning signals weren't going off in his head when that happened. And thanks to Cam, Tori and Dustin were captured and turned into perfume!

When he, Blake and Hunter cornered Cam, he was happy someone else was ticked off as he was. He looked over at the Crimson Ranger, who just had a look of disbelief on his face before following Shane and Blake.

--

There were two Cams. Shit.

At least there were differences. Cam didn't say 'dude' or anything like that, didn't wear a green beanie on his head or wear baggy clothes, and he wasn't so touchy feely.

CyberCam, that's what Cam called him, liked to hug people at random intervals, though Cam said he shouldn't be doing that anymore. Thankfully, he doesn't, he just hugs Dustin and Shane. CyberCam also doesn't do sarcasm very well, and he doesn't wear the Samurai Amulet that Cam always has around his neck, and he doesn't wear glasses, which doesn't help much since Cam doesn't either when he's fighting.

Oh well. At least now Cam could get out more, what with CyberCam helping out at Ninja Ops. He does look cute on that mini-motocross bike. As Tori said, "Everyone's gotta start somewhere."


End file.
